Valentine's Day is for us, and once again the retail air of love blooms. Remember that old song 'Love Potion No.9'? Apparently love potions are true, nevertheless the myth is always that they'll help anyone. If you are seeking to enchant someone, the important thing lies in your own psyche. The one who wears an appreciation potion will be as successful because they love potion will themselves being. Herbalist Atava Garcia Swiecicki of Ancestral Apothecary ( explains why.
First of, what is a love potion? TV and movies talk about all of them the time as some magical elixir which will bring like to a person, however you say it is more about working with oneself. What will be your definition of an affection potion?
From my perspective being an herbalist, a love potion can be an herbal remedy crafted with herbs which have been traditionally used as aphrodisiacs, like damiana, vanilla, rose and chocolate. These herbs are joined with flower essences that really help address and resolve the mental and emotional issues we many have that create obstacles to achieving the love and intimacy that people seek.
For example, to generate a good love potion, I may begin with an herbal extract of damiana, an herb renowned because of its aphrodisiac powers. From a more modern herbal perspective, damiana is considered a nerves tonic and a mood elevator. That means it can help us to unwind and be in a good mood. In making my love potion, I may combine damiana with rose, a plant long linked to attracting love and healing the emotional heart.
Into this damiana-rose elixir, I will add certain flower essences that address the specific needs of each one individual that I use. For example, if someone else has suffered heartbreak before that they haven't quite recovered from, I may put in a flower essence of bleeding heart to the elixir. Bleeding heart helps to heal a broken heart.
If someone has low self-esteem which is interfering within their ability to attract love, I may decide to add the flower essence of buttercup, which is great for self-love.
There are hundreds of herbs and flower essences which can be used as ingredients in an appreciation potion, each using its own unique healing properties.
You're offering a Love Potion Class & Herbal House Party on Feb. 13. What can attendees be prepared to learn in the workshop? Describe the format.
At this workshop, I will mention many herbs that have been traditionally used as aphrodisiacs, to heal broken hearts, also to attract love. Many of these herbs are normally used as foods and/or spices, like vanilla, cardamom, cayenne, and lastly, chocolate.
Next, I will demonstrate the best way to create your personal love potion. I may have herbal ingredients for each participant to blend up their own special blend. Each participant can create their particular potion to look at home and use.
How many plants does an herbalist work with? Is it every plant available or just specific ones?
Herbal prescription medication is practiced by people all across the globe. According for the World Health Organization, over 75% of the world's population still relies solely on herbal medicine. From a global perspective, thousands and thousands of plants are used as herbal medicine. In my own, personal herbal apothecary, I have over 250 different herbs and flower essences that I use for medicine.
From an indigenous perspective, every plant on earth has a purpose, whether for food, shelter, clothing, dye or medicine. In this way, some although not all in the earth's plants are used as medicine. Herbalists are taught to identify and help the plants which can be medicinal.
What would you teach people specifically on how to make an affection potion?
Like I said above, I will teach people first about the traditional and modern use in the herbs that we will be utilizing for our love potions. Next, I will introduce the healing properties from the flower essences. Next, everyone will have an opportunity to blend their very own ingredients together to create a potion custom-designed just for what they already want.
The host from the event stood a strong intention in organizing the workshop that she meet "the love of her life" in 10 days after booking the date. You state that intention is essential in making a love potion. Explain why.
Many everyone is familiar with the theory about how the condition of mind we are in when preparing food affects the quality with the meal we have been preparing. This was well illustrated within the book by Mexican author Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate. If you make a meal if you are angry, individuals eating the food may also feel angry and agitated. Likewise, if you prepare a meal with love and good feelings, men and women feel cheerful and friendly when eating it.
The same concept applies on the art of herbal medicine preparations. I teach that it really is very important to be in an excellent state of mind and heart before you make any medicine. The intention one has while making the medicine is also extremely important. Our thoughts and intentions have a strong relation to whatever we create.
Dr. Emoto, the Japanese water researcher demonstrated towards the world how our thoughts, feelings and intentions affect the grade of water. Water is a main ingredient inside the potions we are making and it is able to carry the aim of its creator.
Likewise, the intention we hold when making a love potion has a strong impact on the power and quality with the product. When we make our potion with the intention of attracting love, each time we go on it we can reaffirm this intention. In this way, the power with the potion is amplified by our very own intentions.
How are herbalists trained and licensed? Is there a standard education for becoming an herbalist within the United States?
Herbal prescription medication is not licensed inside the United States, however it really is in many other countries. Herbal medicine is a field that encompasses variations of practitioners from numerous backgrounds. For example, some herbalists originate from a family lineage of herbalists and their education comes from their grandparents or any other family members. In some cases, an herbalist may apprentice using a master herbalist to get their training.
In addition, there are many schools inside the United States that supply training in professional herbalism. The American Herbalist Guild can be an organization which offers credentialing in herbal medicine for herbalists with plenty of education and training. I have been an expert member with the American Herbalist Guild since 2008; however I are actually practicing just as one herbalist since 1997.
My training began if you take many herbal classes and apprenticing with my first herbal teacher. Then I completed my herbal education having a two-year program with the Ohlone Center for Herbal Studies in Berkeley. I have also studied with traditional herbalists and healers from Mexico, Hawaii and Native America.
Spiritual beliefs are personal, but wait, how is your work offered to people who are Christian or Catholic?
I welcome people coming from all faiths to my classes and workshops. Herbal drugs are the world's oldest kind of medicine and has been used by people all across the globe since time immemorial. Plants speak a universal language that transcends religious or cultural barriers.
The basic tenet that I hold within my work is the fact that plants have an capacity to help us heal, just since they have the capacity to nourish us inside form of food.
In my healing and educational work, I encourage people to work within their very own spiritual tradition. Whatever your spiritual or religious beliefs are, you'll be able to incorporate them in your herbal medicine making, just like you can incorporate them into any creative art.
What is the response to people that criticize this are "woo-woo" that only attracts women?
In my work just as one herbalist and a teacher, I have witnessed numerous people heal themselves and transform their lives by utilizing plant medicine. I don't have any desire to try and convince anyone in the healing power or efficacy of herbal medicine, because I feel much like the results speak for themselves. I think those who see it as 'woo-woo' are merely limiting their own access to healing and wholeness. But I also respect people's own opinions and their own personal life path , nor waste any of my own energy trying to change the way people think.
Describe a normal herbal consultation that an individual who came to you would experience should they wanted one-on-one training in making their very own love potion.
A one who came for me to a love potion might need of one of 2 types of services I offer: either an herbal consultation or even a flower essence consultation. Someone seeking a 'love potion' that's also experiencing diminished vitality, bad health and low libido need an herbal consultation.
My initial herbal consultation lasts two hours and is quite in-depth. First, I'll have you ever fill out intake forms that ask detailed questions on your health history, your diet and your lifestyle. Next, we'll talk in-depth about your personal and health history in addition to whatever health problem you need to address with herbal medicine. Finally, I'll create an herbal formula individually created for you, that can address your own personal unique physical constitution, physiological needs, and emotional and spiritual well-being. If you are seeking a 'love potion,' your formula should include herbs that help address the physical roots of your wellbeing concerns, reproductive issues and low libido, as well as flower essences that address the emotional and spiritual aspects of the healing.
On the other hand, if you are in good health and merely want to address the emotional and spiritual areas of attracting love, I would suggest a flower essence consultation.
A flower consultation lasts an hour and includes a session where you set your healing intention which you'd probably like to address using the flower essence formula. This intention could be anything, as flower essences address many different concerns. Some people visit me to operate on releasing fear; other medication is looking for increased amounts of satisfaction work; others are working through issues within their personal relationships; other people are hoping to expand their creativity; plus much more.
To create a lastest love potion, someone's intention may be as simple as 'I desire to attract a meaningful love relationship within my life,' or it might be 'I would like to release the debris of past relationships which can be interfering with my ability to get open to a romantic partner.'
Next, we'll discuss and attempt to identify some in the obstacles that get inside the way of you manifesting your intention. For example, one client found me who were built with a history of sexual abuse and trauma. Due to this particular past trauma, she was de-activate to intimacy and sexuality. I gave her herbs and flower essences that helped her to relax, feel is completely safe in her body, as well as to help dissolve the memory of past trauma. Eventually, with all the help from the herbs, flower essences as well as a good therapist, she was in a position to open up again to your fulfilling intimate relationship.
Finally, in a flower essence consultation, I'll develop a formula that addresses all of the unique concerns as well as. You'll have this formula to adopt home and take daily. I'll regularly suggest that people keep a journal to track their process, so that they can are able to observe how the herbs and flower essences are working of their lives.
How is using an affection potion not spellcasting? Not everyone believes in the supernatural but people can be be extremely vulnerable around certain issues in daily life. Love is really a big one. How is making an affection potion not a type of spiritual manipulation?
I cannot directly answer the part about spellcasting because I am not acquainted with what spellcasting involves.
I teach that it is very important to never make an effort to manipulate somebody else with herbal medicine. To ethically practice, it is possible to only work with yourself or you may help someone else using their consent (as it really is in my case of utilizing my clients).
The capability to attract love is often a very complicated issue. Each person has their particular unique history, emotional patterning and personal destiny. I do not make any claims with my love potions apart from the herbs and flower essences will allow us to become more healthy and whole humans.